Chief Justice Myron Steele Favors SCOTUS Test Of Constitutionality Of Secret Chancery Court Arbitration

John Flaherty sent this along ~ 

(The Republic) AP - Randall Chase reports ~ Delaware chief justice expects more wrangling over constitutionality of secret arbitration

A federal appeals court panel last month upheld a lower court decision declaring that a 2009 state law allowing chancery judges to preside over secret arbitration in high-stakes business disputes was unconstitutional because it violated the First Amendment right of citizens to have access to court proceedings and records. But Chief Justice Myron Steele said at a corporate law forum Wednesday that he doesn't believe the fight is over, and that the case may be ripe for a U.S. Supreme Court appeal.

~*~

Read More

TDC's Corporate Entity Is A Mail Boxes Etc. UPS Store In East Goshen - Not A Suite As They Claim On Their Website

TDC's official business address - which they claim on their website is a Suite -  is a mailbox in a Mail Boxes Etc UPS Store....

A friend writes ~

1554 Paoli Pike West Chester PA ---Does anyone know what this is the address for? Anyone? Anyone... Buller? Ferris Buller...? No reply...

OK it is the address for The Data Centers LLC, the company who is building a 279 MW power plant in Newark and renting the UD campus to do it. Why is this an issue? Because the Data Center who has NO phone number, a website that looks like it was built yesterday--No experience in Building Power plants and at least according to the website no experience in the construction of Data centers either(consulting yes, building no)-they are reporting to have 7.5 million from the state of DE and a BILLION in total leveraged funds. I am NOT EVEN ASKING HOW A COMPANY WITH NO OFFICIAL HISTORY IN POWER GENERATION CAN RAISE THAT CAPITAL --OK I AM GETTING TO MY POINT---1554 Paoli Pike is a UPS store... Not offices for a data center..With all that supposed leveraged capital you cant even rent office space and get a phone line----Why would ANYONE invest money in you let alone the state of DE?

 Just sayin'. Will have to check the Delaware Division of Corporations to see if this is the address TDC is incorporated under.

~*~

Read More

Please Urge New Castle County Council To Vote Down Bullock And Sheldon's R13-258 Pro-Power Plant Resolution

http://www.nonewarkpowerplant.org/

Update: Lisa Diller has just confirmed with residents that she is voting NO on this resolution and she is meeting tonight with one Newark area community to listen to their concerns, Among those concerns is that the resolution is full of bad information on the project that TDC is spreading. Here are a few examples:

Even according to TDC's own DEDO grant application, this resolution has the facts wrong. The avg salary is not $63k ("$60k" is the avg *loaded* cost of hiring someone); the avg salary, before taxes, is $46,500. And the median salary for the most common workers is lower, which means most of the employees will be paid lower than the living wage for 1 adult + 1 child in New Castle County.

The 900,000 square feet (20 acres out of the 43 acre site) is the size of the entire developed ground area. The data center is proposed as 192,000 square feet.

And TDC's data incorrectly counts their 16 hr/week weekend jobs as full time headcount, so their 290 figure is really 219 when adjusted to full time equivalent jobs. And even if you subtract out the FIFTY landscape, security, and janitorial staff, TDC's projected data center jobs are 6X the number of data center staff per square foot at all major data centers, including those much larger. Examples in Grant County, WA: Microsoft 500,000 sq ft / 100 employees. Yahoo 180,000 sq ft / 35 employees.

And all of this is if you even believe TDC's claims, a company with 8 part time employees, with no phone number, with a UPS Store mailbox as their supposed "Suite" address, and which has never built anything before.

Appreciate with me the hubris of at-large Council President Chris Bullock and non-Newark Rep. Tim Sheldon to set in motion the committee hearing and Council vote for a pro-power plant resolution on Newark's election day when we will all be busy conducting our affairs in choosing the next mayor! OUTRAGEOUS. 

And then read the Resolution and be further outraged:

http://www2.nccde.org/council/Documents/LegislationDocuments/R13-258.pdf

R13-258 is on the agenda for the NCC Executive Committee at 4:00PM on Tuesday November 26th. It is the public hearing for the Resolution. Public comments are welcome for this agenda item and there is a general public comment on each committee agenda. There will be supporters in the room no doubt.

The Resolution is also on the agenda for a vote at the regular council meeting later that night which starts at 7PM. This will prevent Newarkers from coming to Wilmington since so many will obviously be involved in the election that day. 

http://www2.nccde.org/council/Documents/MeetingAgendaDocuments/Council%20Agenda%2011-26-13.pdf

Public Comment is taken at the regular meeting as well. I plan to go to both meetings but we will need as many as possible to contact ahead of time too. This will have to be mostly an email campaign to stop it.

If we can get all of our supporters to email all of Council it will be very influential. And if we can get people across the county to do the same - all the better. I was hoping Sierra Club and other organizations will send out alerts.

People can address emails to Council President Bullock and the rest of Council and mention their own rep. specifically.

Sponsor Chris Bullock is the only at large person on Council and so is everyone's rep. Newark has (R) Janet Kilpatrick in the northern corner and (D) Lisa Diller for the rest. Diller has to be pressured to lobby against this Resolution and act in the interest of her constituents. 

It is outrageous that none of the facts cited are vetted and none of the residents concerns are noted. Click onto No Newark Power Plant->Resources->Documents and read some of the facts for yourself.

~*~

Read More

Community Involvement Advisory Council Workshop - Response To Public Comments On Brownfields Development Agreement - Set For 3PM Tomorrow In Millsboro

John Flaherty sent this along ~

CIAC sets public workshop on development of Vlasic
Pickle/Pinnacle site for Thursday, Nov. 21 in Millsboro

DOVER (Nov. 20, 2013) – DNREC’s Community Involvement Advisory Council (CIAC) will hold a public workshop Thursday, Nov. 21, on the potential redevelopment of the former Vlasic Pickle site at 29984 Pinnacle Way in Dagsboro. The workshop is scheduled from 3-5 p.m. at the Millsboro Town Hall, 322 Wilson Highway, Millsboro, DE 19966.

 

Allen M. Harim Foods has entered into a brownfields development  agreement (BDA) with DNREC, with the intent of purchasing the site and converting the facility to a poultry processing plant. A BDA is an agreement between DNREC and a brownfields developer with respect to a Certified Brownfields Site that sets forth a scope of work and remedial activities during development of the site. A second opportunity for public comment – a public hearing on the brownfields development agreement and a proposed plan of remediation by DNREC’s Site Investigation and Restoration Section – is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 4, at the Millsboro Fire Hall, 109 E. State Street, Millsboro, DE 19966, and starting at 6 p.m.

 

The workshop will afford concerned residents an opportunity to understand environmental issues being addressed by DNREC in the event that the former Vlasic Pickle site is acquired by Allen M. Harim Foods and converted to a poultry processing plant.

 

Thursday’s workshop is the Community Involvement Advisory Council’s response to public comments on the brownfields development agreement. DNREC subject matter experts will be present at the workshop to address specific questions about the site. The Department of Health and Social Services’ Office of Drinking Water (ODW) will also be present to discuss surrounding community drinking water systems to the Vlasic/Pinnacle site.

 

A panel of subject-matter experts will provide an overview of the permitting processes, and also will explain the public health and environmental protection provided by DNREC’s permitting programs. DNREC and ODW staff will be available for questions at poster stations located throughout the hall. Subject matter experts will reconvene for a question-and-answer session at the close of the workshop.

 

The CIAC was established in 2001, under Senate Bill 33 to enable communities to interact with DNREC in an effective manner. The 11-member body is appointed by the Governor to advise the DNREC Secretary on matters such as the relationships and interactions between the Department and communities throughout the state. In addition to its primary charge of assuring that no community is disparately affected by environmental impacts, the CIAC is also responsible for increasing community participation and the flow of information between communities and the Department.

 

For more information, please contact James Brunswick, DNREC community ombudsman, at 302-739-9000, or Robert Newsome, Site Investigation and Restoration Section public information officer, at 302-395-2600.

 

~*~

Read More

Petition The Senate To STOP THE FILIBUSTER Today

Pick one of the many Stop The Filibuster petitions circulating today and sign it! Here's one from a favorite, The Pen ~

In this one alert we are going to make an exception and depart from
our standard policy of keeping our comments to Congress "respectful."

For literally years we have argued, we have reasoned, we have begged,
we have pleaded, we have cajoled, we have advocated, we have
exhorted, and we have encouraged the Democrats in the Senate to stand
up for themselves and DO something about the outrageous and
unprecedented obstructionism of the minority filibuster happy
Republicans.

Now we are demanding . . . in no uncertain terms . . . that the
filibuster be abolished forever and immediately.

If the message below is too strident for you . . . perhaps that's our
real problem, not being strident enough when the situation requires
it. You are not required to submit this one to stay on our list. But
when it comes time to speak the truth, The Pen will speak it,
together with any who will join us in actually putting up a fight,
and we are not going to mince our words about it. It's time to
breathe some fire, folks.

BEGIN ACTUAL PETITION

This is a message primarily to the so-called Democrats in the United
States Senate, with perhaps a couple of exceptions like Senator
Elizabeth Warren, who is almost alone in taking a strong stand for
fairness.

Abolish The Filibuster NOW Action Page:
http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1145.php

Seriously, when are you whimpering cowards ever going to get it? The
Republicans just filibustered three more nominees to the DC Appellate
Court, as well as Representative Mel Watt's administrative nomination
to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The Republicans talk about you
like you are a laughing stock, and they are absolutely right.

You turn our stomachs. You whine, "Oh, but what if we have to
filibuster some extremist Republican nominee someday?" Oh, yeah,
right, sure like that would ever happen either. All you did was cave
in 2005, and that's all you're doing now.

It is reported that Senator Leahy slammed his hand on the podium when
Nina Pillard was filibustered last week. And now the Republicans have
filibustered Robert Wilkins, yet another highly qualified and
moderate nominee. Is this supposed to be some kind of feeble joke?

Now gird up your loins, and abolish the filibuster immediately and
forever, or there will be nothing left of you after another election
or so.

The filibuster is a legislative monkey wrench that has long outlived
its perversity. No talking filibuster, no silent filibuster, no
filibuster at all. End it!!

Abolish The Filibuster NOW Action Page:
http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1145.php

The above text is the exact wording of the petition that this action
page sends to all your members of Congress.

If you want to DO something, first please submit the action page
above. And after you do, which not pick up one of our Stop The
Filibuster caps, which you can have for a donation of any amount,
from the return page from your action page submission, or from this
direct link.

Stop The Filibuster Caps:
http://www.peaceteam.net/stop_filibuster_cap.php 

~*~

Read More

Evidence Is Mounting That The Proposed UD Campus Power Plant Intends To Sell Electricity Far Beyond A Data Center Usage

Dr. Amy Roe's latest Freedom of Information Act request about The Data Centers LLC's plans for a power plant in Newark produced this map, from March 2013, which shows how existing and future power lines would be run through the STAR Campus.

Plus a letter today ~ Data center doesn’t need the power plant

In the ongoing debate con­cerning the STAR campus data center and power plant, it is es­sential to keep in mind that con­struction and use of the data cen­ter does not require construc­tion of the power plant. Accord­ing to University of Delaware Professor Willet Kempton, a more reliable source of power – namely existing high-voltage power lines – already exist at the STAR campus. The majority of the benefits of construction jobs, and long-term data center jobs, can be gained by only building the data center and po­wering it by existing high-volt­age lines. The fossil-fuel-burn­ing power plant is an ugly, un­necessary wart on an otherwise beautiful, job-creating plan of building the data center solo.

Yong Peng

Newark 

~*~

Read More

DE Fast Food Forward Speaks To New Castle County Council's Economic Development Sub-Committee

Update: (News Journal) Cori Ann Natoli reports ~ More pay for fast-food workers [Photo: Daisy Cruz, Mid-Atlantic District Director for SEIU Local 32BJ, reads a statement concerning the treatment and wages of fast-food workers during a meeting with the New Castle County Economic Development Subcommittee Tuesday. / JENNIFER CORBETT/THE NEWS JOURNAL]

“Unfortunately ... a lot of folks have gotten filthy rich off the backs of oth­ers,” said Councilman Penrose Hollins during the presentation. “I think we need to have a very honest and sincere dis­cussion to move this for­ward.” 

New Castle County Examines the High Cost of Fast Food Low Wages

Wilmington—In the midst of an unprecedented uprising of low-wage worker strikes at Walmart and at fast food restaurants in Wilmington and nationwide, Delaware again took up the fight for fair wages for fast food workers. Members of the New Castle County Economic Development Sub-Committee today held a special hearing where fast food workers, economists, labor and community leaders explored the hefty cost to DE taxpayers wrought by fast food companies' low wages.

 

"Simply because we refuse to let low-paid workers starve if they cannot afford food, or remain sick if they cannot afford health care, billion-dollar companies like McDonald's have decided they have no responsibility to pay workers in Delaware a living wage," said Jack Temple, policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project. "Whether you eat at McDonald's or not, the company's low-wage business model is costing the public billions every year - that's not only economically unsustainable, it's morally unacceptable."

 

The hearing comes just weeks after researchers at the University of California, Berkeley released a report showing that low-wage fast food jobs cost U.S. taxpayers $7 billion every year. In August, fast-food workers in Wilmington and 60 other cities across the country went on strike  demanding $15 per hour and a union, so they don’t have to rely on public assistance.

 

“I am barely making ends meet. I get public assistance and so do many of my co-workers. With the money we make, I don’t know how any of us would make it without food stamps and Medicaid,” said fast food worker, Candy Crippen. “I work hard at a job that’s not easy despite what people think. I go in early, stay late and fill in for others. All I want is to earn enough to survive.”

 

Six weeks after Wilmington fast food workers made history by joining the nation’s largest ever fast food strike, community leaders took the opportunity to address how fast-food companies’ low wages and lack of benefits force workers to rely on taxpayer-funded public assistance.

 

"The fast food industry relies on taxpayers to subsidize the wages of their employees instead of simply giving workers fair pay," said Ezra Temko of the Delaware chapter of Americans for Democratic Action. "It's time to hold fast food companies accountable for the negative impacts this has on our community here in New Castle County."

 

“We know that the good jobs provided by Chrysler and GM are not coming back anytime soon. But there is a lot we can do together to turn the service jobs we do have, into good jobs,” said Daisy Cruz, director, 32BJ SEIU Mid-Atlantic District.

 

Fast-food is a $200 billion a year industry. The median wage for core front-line workers at fast-food restaurants nationally is $8.69 an hour. Only 13 percent of the jobs provide health benefits. According to NELP, the average Delaware fast food workers earn $206 per week or $10,695 per year, based on a 24-hour work week which is the national average.

 

Community groups called on New Castle County to take action by sending a letter and passing a resolution demanding that the CEOs of fast food companies pay a living wage and respect workers’ rights to organize.

 

“We ask that New Castle County Council investigate the cost of the of fast food business model to DE taxpayers,” said Darlene Battle, director of the Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement.  “We ask that New Castle County Council explore direct action that County Council can take to directly support workers in their call for $15 an hour and a union.”

 

DE Fast Food Forward is a movement of DE fast food workers, and supporters from faith, labor and community groups, who are fighting to raise wages and gain rights at work. It is part of the national movement of low-wage workers fighting for a better future.

~*~

Read More